Warriors: Rosetail's Promise
by SuperLunala
Summary: The fledgling SunClan has taken its first challenge, many malignant loners, well. They're still a problem, but SunClan's on the up from that down. And just when the Clan finally started to do well, their only rogue, the egocentric Rosetail, comes back. Her goal? To take leader Cherrystar down a peg and install herself as leader.
1. Prologue

E

Water glistened on the rocks. The territory was familiar to the traveler, she had tread it so long ago. But that time, she was alone. Now…

"Are we there yet?" Ah, the quintessential travel question. _Even Twoleg kits would ask it, in their language, of course,_ the traveler thought.

"Obviously not, Violet. Do you see a clearing? Do you smell a border?" The young cat had been a pain in the tail for the last five moons. Makes sense, considering her age is also five moons.

Violet shrunk at the traveler's harsh words. "You really don't need to be so rude. She's just a kit." That was Crescent, the traveler's mate.

"Yeah, and so is Amber, but she doesn't complain about every thorn in her pad and every rock on the path," the traveler retorted. The name brought the owner's attention toward the traveler, but she said nothing and just continued walking far ahead of everyone, as if she knew the way.

"Amber can barely squeak," Crescent said. At the same time, Violet yowled to the same effect, "That's not fair!"

"And what about me?" the third kit said quietly from behind the four of them.

"You have nothing to worry about, Azure," Crescent said, whipping his tail in front of the traveler to keep her quiet.

"Except maybe falling behind," Violet said with a purr of amusement.

"I'm sorry I'm smaller than all of you!" Azure said, his pelt bristling. Amber was about his size, but neither kit bothered to mention that.

"Listen, we all need to work well together! We don't have any other cats to rely on," Crescent said, walking between the pair of kits to break up the fight that almost started. _Yet,_ the traveler thought as an appendix to the tom's words.

"That sounds like hard work," Violet complained.

"Yeah, especially with _her_ ," Azure said, clearly in reference to Violet.

"What I meant to say is, _don't fight_ ," Crescent said deliberately. Both kits went silent after that. Amber stifled a laugh at the situation, but Crescent didn't seem to hear that.

The traveler stayed silent, thinking of what would happen once they reach their destination.

 _Let's see...Graywolf...and Nettlewhisker...and that prick Cherrydart. Ahhh, Cherrydart._

Amber suddenly stopped at the crest of a hill. Her hearing was the sharpest, she might have heard something. The rest of the group made their way to the top to investigate.

"I don't see or hear anything," the traveler noted. "Amber, are you playing games with us?" She gave a look to the traveler that almost screamed fear. _No games, then._

"What is it?" Azure said. The traveler then realized something.

They were already here. Well, a lake could fit between the family and the destination, but it was within sight.

 _Welcome back to SunClan, Rosestar. Where have you been the last four seasons?_

 _You wish that it would go like that_ , the traveler thought. _I promised Cherrydart she would regret the day I came back. And regret it she will._


	2. Chapter 1 (prologue mark 2 i guess)

1

Cherrystar woke up with a start. As she expected, she was alone. _Why would I think that?_ Cherrystar thought. _I'm Clan leader, I get my own den. Must've been the dream.  
_ Frozentail then popped into the den. "Finally awake?" the Clan deputy said in a friendly manner. "I thought you'd sleep to sunhigh."  
"Certainly feels like I have," Cherrystar said with a yawn. She didn't feel like discussing the manner of dreams she'd been having lately. "Have the morning patrols-"  
"Already taken care of," Frozentail interrupted. "In fact, the border patrol should be coming back soon." Both cats exited the Clan leader's den.  
Cherrystar squinted in the bright sunlight, reassuring her both that it was almost greenleaf and that she had slept too long last night.  
A group of four cats were walking into the clearing, Scarletfur, Kyupaw, Graywolf, and Rainwhisker. The 'paw was talking to the near-elder; Cherrystar guessed that Graywolf was telling one of the stories from the dawn of SunClan, but she couldn't hear it clearly from this far away. Cherrystar met them in the middle of the camp. They were having a conversation, and Cherrystar didn't feel like interrupting.  
"Whoa. I didn't know Morningsun was that good as a warrior!" Kyupaw said.  
"Well, there was probably a bit of exaggeration," Scarletfur said with a swish of her tail.  
"Come on, leave the tale as it is," Graywolf said. "Aren't all good fables a little stretched in the facts?"  
"I guess," Scarletfur said as she nearly walked right into Cherrystar. She jumped back, her tail pointing almost straight up. "Great StarClan! I didn't see you there!"  
"No problem. It's good to see Clan members of all ages getting along together," Cherrystar assured Scarletfur. At this, the warrior relaxed. "I take it things went well?"  
"Yes," Rainwhisker said. It was probably the first word he had said all day. Rainwhisker was a cat of few words. "We did scent a loner, but they didn't cross to our side."  
"Good," Cherrystar said. For some reason loners loved to use SunClan land, as if there wasn't a border or other cats living there. It had been a problem since before last leaf-bare. "Maybe they finally get the point." At that, Rainwhisker and Graywolf walked away.

"You'd think he would lighten up a bit," Scarletfur said.

"Well, I can't fix the fact he thinks of being a warrior and nothing else," Cherrystar said.

"I know," Scarletfur mewed sadly. "Come on, Kyupaw, we've got training to do."

"Haven't we done enough with the morning patrol?" Kyupaw whined.

"Don't you want first pick of the fresh-kill pile?" Cherrystar said.

"Oh, okay!" Kyupaw said. Whether it was because Cherrystar was the leader or because of the reward, didn't matter. Both cats walked back out of the clearing.

 _To think she's the oldest of SunClan's apprentices,_ Cherrystar thought. She sighed.

"What's wrong?" someone said. Cherrystar whipped around, only to find Dustclaw. "Whoa, sorry for scaring you," he added for the Clan leader's reaction.

"It's not a big problem. I was just thinking," Cherrystar explained.

"What about?" Dustclaw said. Cherrystar said nothing, just stared into the distance. Dustclaw eventually left, leaving Cherrystar alone.

She padded up to the top of the hill behind her den. From here, she could see all of SunClan. In the distance she could see three small kits running around the edges of the camp. Mousekit, Dawnkit, and Leafkit. Their mother was walking behind them, probably trying to calm them down. Cherrystar smiled. The Clan was starting to do well, for the first time since its founding.

"Nice view, isn't it?" That was Ravenwing, the youngest ever medicine cat. Of no fault of her own; her mentor died prematurely to a loner at the edge of SunClan territory.

"I like to come up here and see all the territory," Cherrystar responded. "For some reason, it calms me."

"Sounds like you need that," Ravenwing said. "The dreams again?"

"Yes." Ravenwing knew about it because she made Cherrystar tell her about it.

"You've been having them for half a moon, and she still hasn't shown herself."

"I know. It might just be my past nagging at me. But if she is back, all this could disappear."

"There's a word for that. Paranoia."

"Is it though? What if StarClan is trying to tell me something and I'm just not listening?"

"I tried to ask them about it, but I don't think they know if she's alive."

"That's reassuring."

"That's sarcasm."

"I know." A moment of silence. Then, Ravenwing turned away.

"Tell me if the dreams stop." She walked away.

If _they stop,_ Cherrystar thought.


	3. Chapter 2

2

Ravenwing returned to her den alone. Cherrystar's words haunted her, even though she was sure the dreams had nothing to do with StarClan. She lied down on her bed and sighed.

 _Why did I have to get myself involved in this mess? I wish herbs could fix the leader's tortured mind._ Ravenwing yawned. It was barely sunhigh and the day was already so long.

Suddenly she heard something. Her ears pricked and she got up. It had gotten silent, but it was right outside. She edged out slowly. _What if it was one of those strange cats that couldn't leave SunClan alone?_

Something ran right past her. Ravenwing turned around as quick as she could and saw, indeed, another cat. But this one was just a kit. It seemed more scared of Ravenwing than she was of it, backed up against the wall of the medicine cat's den.

"It's alright," Ravenwing assured the young cat. "I'm not going to hurt you." This actually worked, the kit let the medicine cat walk right up to her.

"You talk much?" Ravenwing asked the kit. She said nothing, and seemed to be staring right through Ravenwing with her pale blue eyes. They seemed to glow, and add her snowy pelt and Ravenwing could almost mistake her for a StarClan cat.

"I'm gonna need to tell Cherryst-" Ravenwing began, and the kit finally responded. She ran up to Ravenwing and pawed at her with wide eyes, fur bristling. "I'm sorry, but it's a Clan rule," Ravenwing said. "Though how you slipped past both the border and hunting patrols, I have no idea. Do you want to come with me?" The kit eased up at this and walked to the exit of the den.

"Alright," Ravenwing said. "Come on." Ravenwing led the kit to and around the hill at the edge of the camp. "Last I remember, Cherrystar was somewhere around-"

"Here?" Frozentail said. He was alone, but the deputy would be able to tell Cherrystar later. "I see you've got a visitor. I trust she isn't of any harm?"

"No," Ravenwing said. "She tried to run away from me, and I have almost no battle experience!" Both Clan cats _mrrow_ ed in amusement. The loner stayed silent.

"She doesn't talk much, does she?" Frozentail said.

"No. I still don't know her name. Maybe she'll tell me later. Do you think she can stay with us?"

"Probably. She doesn't even look old enough to be an apprentice. I can't imagine what it'd be like for her outside the camp."

"Good. Can you tell Cherrystar about it?"

"Yeah," Frozentail said. "I'm not sure how she'd react to that, though. She definitely wants to keep the border strict."

"I hope she'll let her stay," Ravenwing said. "She looks like she hasn't eaten in half a moon."

"I know," Frozentail said. "See you around?"

"Yeah. Come on," Ravenwing told the loner. They walked back to the den.

"You fine with staying here? I have to go get some herbs for the stock. Wait, what am I kidding? That's Maplepaw's job." As if on cue, Maplepaw walked into the den.

"What about me?" Maplepaw asked. At the moment, she was being trained mostly by Ravenwing, because Lilacpelt had kits two moons earlier.

"We need more herbs," Ravenwing said. "Particularly marigold. You feeling up to that?"

"Yeah," Maplepaw said with a sigh. She didn't like having to fetch things for Ravenwing. "Who's that?" Maplepaw asked, in reference to the snow-colored cat staring at the wall.

"I don't know her name," Ravenwing said. "She just came up here, probably not expecting a big cat like myself to find her. And yes, I already told Frozentail."

"Okay." Maplepaw turned to leave. "Be right back."

"Yep." Maplepaw left, leaving the medicine cat and the loner in the den.

"Can you talk at all?" Ravenwing said. The cat turned to Ravenwing and made a quiet whimper, but didn't say anything. She stared at the ground, clearly upset at the question.

"Oh. I didn't know, sorry." She nuzzled the smaller cat. Though Ravenwing was a pretty big cat, so it ended up being more of a push into the wall. The young cat made a sound like purring anyway, though.

"If you can't tell me your name, then I'm just gonna have to name you myself. I think...Moonkit works. Do you like that?" She murmured something, which Ravenwing couldn't understand but figured was something like "Yes." "Good. We can't just go around calling you 'the loner,' can we?" Ravenwing chuckled. "You're probably hungry, let's get you some food." She walked out of the den. Moonkit didn't follow.

"Don't worry, the Clan might be a little nervous, but we'll be alright." Moonkit's ears pricked, though. Ravewing heard it too, and it sounded angry. Cherrystar barged into the den with Rainwhisker behind her.

"What's Frozentail saying about a loner kit stumb...ling…" Cherrystar trailed off. Moonkit was staring directly at Cherrystar, and looked very scared.

"Stop, you're scaring Moon-"

"That can't be." Cherrystar said. "But it has to. You look like a little version of her."

"Rosetail?" Ravenwing said. She looked back at Moonkit. Now that she thought about it, Moonkit did resemble Rosetail. The long near-white fur, the blue eyes.

"Yeah...Do you know her?" Cherrystar asked Moonkit. She shuffled her paws.

"She doesn't seem to be able to talk," Ravenwing said. "At first, I thought she was a StarClan ghost. That's why I called her Moonkit."

"I don't know," Cherrystar said. "I don't want to take any chances, though."  
"Please let her stay!" Ravenwing pleaded.

Cherrystar didn't respond for a moment. Probably considering what would happen if the silent cat became a part of SunClan. Finally, she said, "If you watch over her, and make sure she doesn't cause any trouble, she can stay."

Both Ravenwing and Moonkit lightened up. "Thank you, Cherrystar," Ravenwing said.

"It'll be a rough transition, but if the young one can handle living with no help at all, she can handle adjusting to Clan life. Don't let me down, Ravenwing, Moonkit." Cherrystar left, Rainwhisker behind her.

"Well, you hear that?" Ravenwing said. "You can stay!" Moonkit didn't say anything, just nodded and walked out herself, leaving Ravenwing alone.

"I'm quite surprised about that, though. Usually Cherrystar attacks first…" Ravenwing shook her head clear of the thought, if Cherrystar wasn't suspicious, then neither should she.

* * *

"You sure this is a good idea?"

"Yes, Maplepaw, I'm sure. She'd probably die on her own."

"We should stay on those loners' tails, though."

"I know, but Moonkit's only five moons old!" The kit woke up to Ravenwing shouting, but she put her head back down and tried to sleep over it.

"You of all people would be hard on loners, your mentor died to one!" Maplepaw yelled at equal volume. Ravenwing was startled at the retort, she took two steps back before reacting.

"Th-that wasn't fair...Nettlewhisker's barely been dead two moons, and I try to be kind to any cat that's in trouble." She paused. "Then again, this is what I get for asking a warrior apprentice's help. Some medicine cat I make." Ravenwing sat down, depressed, next to Moonkit. Her eyes were shut tightly, as if she was trying to avoid it by not seeing it.

"That's not what I meant," Maplepaw said.

"It's exactly what you meant. Go get some moss, I want to make an extra bed in here."

"It's dusk, and I've-"

"And you've nothing. Do you talk to Lilacpelt this way, or is it just because I'm not your mentor? Because one is slightly less bad than the other." Maplepaw didn't respond. "It is me, isn't it?"

"I wouldn't say that…"

"You go out and fetch something, which you hate doing, only to find the hard-edged near-warrior that you got it for has gone soft. I understand completely your confusion at my actions and your anger at what Moonkit represents. Just know that I asked Cherrystar before letting her stay here. Go to sleep."

"If you say so." Maplepaw walked out slowly, looking back at Ravenwing every few steps.

"Typical apprentice," Ravenwing said once Maplepaw was out of earshot. "They think they know everything, but really, even if they do know it, they don't understand." She sighed. "Today's been a long day." And before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.

* * *

Ravenwing was unsure of where she was. It appeared to be a field full of tall grass as far as the eye could see, with some trees, but they were far apart, not like the forest. _Like an overgrown StarClan_ , Ravenwing thought. She wandered around the place for several minutes before finding anything. This thing was a mouse. _What's a mouse doing here, and why isn't it running away from me?_ Ravenwing said. It was on top of a couple of fallen leaves, but there wasn't a tree nearby. And Ravenwing was upwind of it, it could certainly scent cat. She reached out and clawed at it, but Ravenwing's paw went right through it.

"Amber, where did you go?" some cat said. Ravenwing didn't recognize the voice, but it sounded too close. She tried to sneak away, but she stepped on a twig. This startled her enough to run a dozen fox-lengths before stopping. She stopped because she realized, _why could I touch the twig and not the mouse?_ She walked back to where she was beforehand, and came face-to-face with a gray-faced cat with blue eyes and what appeared to be a mane of long white fur.

 _Rosetail!_ Ravenwing thought. She froze, but the rogue didn't even notice the cat's presence. She continued to look for this "Amber." _If only I could identify this place...if it was StarClan, I could tell Cherrystar not to worry._

"Why in the depths of the Dark Forest am I here? Any StarClan cat? Please tell me!" Nothing came. Ravenwing didn't try to shout again. She walked in a direction. She couldn't see a moon, only stars, so she didn't know for sure which one. Eventually, she came to...Moonkit? The kit, well, wasn't a kit anymore, but Ravenwing could tell it by the eyes. Moonkit saw her quickly and ran up to her.

"Help me!" Moonkit whispered. "She's been crazy for the last half-moon over SunClan and Cherrydart, and I ran away, but now she's looking for me!"

"You're talking," Ravenwing noticed.

"Of course. What, do you think I don't have a tongue?" Moonkit said.

"You...don't. Do you even remember? I couldn't get your name, so I named you Moonkit. Back in the forest, in my den?"

"I...think so...but I'm not a kit. Not here, anyways."

"Where is 'here?'" Ravenwing asked.

"Duh. This is StarClan territory."

"It isn't. StarClan is more open than this. I'm always near a river when I'm there, and there's certainly more prey. And I'm not a ghost when I'm there."

"R-really? Then why is it always night here? The stars are so bright, the grass is too green. Rose said that sounded like StarClan, at least according to her friends."

"I don't know." Ravenwing paced. "Have you seen any old-looking cats? Morningsun, Bramblestar? _Nettlewhisker?_ "

"No, but the names sound familiar."

"How long have you been here?"

"I have absolutely no idea. Longer than Rose has, that's for sure."

"And you haven't aged a single day since then?"

"Nope. That's why I thought this was...Star...Clan..." She was staring somewhere behind Ravenwing. "Uh...hi? Heh...heh..."

"Amber, what are you doing with SunClan cats?" That was Rosetail again. Ravenwing couldn't turn around, she was too scared. "And why won't you look at me? I'm no Dark Forest cat or anything."

"No, just worse," Ravenwing said with a quaver.

"Worse than the Dark Forest? You'll take that back."

"I won't lie, even to an enemy of SunClan."

"Fine. I thought since you had been so nice to Amber that you'd be kind to me, but no, I guess not. Go tell that prick of a leader that Rosestar will strike soon."

"See what I mean?" Amber said. "She's been calling herself Rose _star,_ " Moonkit said.

"Let me take care of business," Rosetail said. She sliced through Ravenwing's neck.


	4. Chapter 3

3

Ravenwing jolted awake. The first thing she did was check her neck. No cuts, though it was painful to touch it. Then, the time of day. It was still before dawn.

 _That was easily the weirdest dream I've ever had,_ Ravenwing thought. She looked over to Moonkit, who was still asleep, though she sounded out-of-breath. It didn't seem bad to Ravenwing, so she went out for a walk.

Ravenwing padded around the clearing and to the hill at the back of the SunClan camp. She didn't think about where she was going, just walked. It was her way of calming down.

Eventually she stumbled upon a drowsy Scarletfur. "You still awake?" Ravenwing whispered. Scarletfur almost never slept, it was just something odd she did.

"No. You?" Scarletfur mewed.

"Oh, you know, nothing out of the ordinary, I just got my neck cut off in some sort of vision." Ravenwing made an unconvincing smile.

"And you complained at Cherrystar about sarcasm." Scarletfur didn't inquire about the "some sort of vision" part. She respected the medicine cat's privacy.

"I just tend to get that way when I don't have enough sleep." Reminded of what she wanted to do earlier that night, she added, "Is she awake, anyway?"

"No, but I can wake her up if you like."

"You don't have nine lives, are you sure you want to do that?" Ravenwing joked.

Scarletfur stifled a laugh. "I can handle it. Cherrystar doesn't either, you know."

"No, I guess not. Y'know, we should probably try and go back to sleep."

"Maybe. See you in the morning?" Scarletfur yelled as Ravenwing walked away.

"You too."

She tried, but couldn't get a wink of sleep. It was now nearly dawn, Ravenwing could hear the other SunClan cats preparing for the patrols. Ravenwing walked out groggily and nearly into Dustclaw.

"You still dreaming?" Dustclaw said.

"No, no sleep," Ravenwing yawned. "You seen Cherrystar?"

"She's still asleep."

"Who's still asleep?" Rabbitleap interjected.

" _Cherrystar,_ " Ravenwing said deliberately. "Please mind your own business."

"Well, someone's cross today," Rabbitleap said. "An' I just saw her over on the far side of the hill, so she isn' asleep."

"You're as fast as a rabbit if you can wake up, go past the edge of the camp, and back to the middle before dawn patrols are even assigned," Dustclaw marveled.

"They don' call me _Rabbitleap_ for nothing," Rabbitleap said proudly. Ravenwing chuckled. The smaller cat was practically overflowing with energy, and it was refreshing to Ravenwing.

"No, I guess they don't," Dustclaw agreed. "Let's go see what Frozentail wants us to do."

"Race you there!" Rabbitleap said as she took off.

"Are you a kit?!" Dustclaw yelled back. He ran after Rabbitleap anyway.

"You're both kits," Ravenwing said with a weaker chuckle. She walked over to the hill, if Rabbitleap was right, Cherrystar would be over there.

"Now you're the one that's looking tired," Cherrystar remarked as she walked out of her den. "What's up?"

"I…I had a vision last night. Before you interject, it wasn't a prophecy, it wasn't from StarClan, and it was honestly the weirdest thing I've ever experienced."

"Ooookay," Cherrystar said. "Not from StarClan? What was it about?"

"Oh, y'know, Rosetail. In a place that looked an awful lot like StarClan, but certainly wasn't."

"Heh, sounds more peaceful than my dreams. Remember the one where the forest was burning?"

"Yeah," Ravenwing stifled a laugh. Cherrystar had woken from that one, ran around the entire camp yelling "Fire!" until Ravenwing stopped her. That was how Ravenwing knew about the dreams in the first place.

"A false StarClan is _much_ better than that," Cherrystar repeated.

"Yeah, except Rosetail sliced my neck open. And it still hurts," Ravenwing said. She was doing a good job of hiding it, but turning her head was painful. And since she was the medicine cat, she couldn't do anything about it.

"If you've turned into the next Ivypool…" Cherrystar started.

"No. I wouldn't be here if I did."

"Good point." Cherrystar sighed and turned toward the rising sun. "Does that mean she's attacking soon?"

"It's gotta," Ravenwing said. "If Moonkit really is Rosetail's kin, then she'll definitely have missed her by now. Moonkit said something about Rosetail searching for her…"

"It'd be just perfect if she attacked with the morning sun," Cherrystar thought aloud, completely ignoring the bit about Moonkit speaking. "Think about it."

"She isn't Sol."

"You don't know."

"Neither do you." Both cats turned away from each other. Neither one spoke for several moments.

"Let's not speculate," Cherrystar finally said.

"Yeah, that only leads to paranoia," Ravenwing agreed.

Both cats walked back to their respective dens, waiting for something to happen.

And that something was not much later. It was Moonkit running in and trying to get Ravenwing's attention soon after sunhigh.

"Moonkit, what's wrong?" She was trying to drag Ravenwing somewhere, but was only strong enough to nearly pull out Ravenwing's fur.

"That hurts," Ravenwing said. Moonkit made a small whimper as she let go. Ravenwing felt bad, she was trying the hardest she could to bring Ravenwing to the problem sans tongue.

"Aw, c'mon," Ravenwing said. She walked outside, Moonkit running in front of her. Eventually she came to a limping Ashenheart, with Rainwhisker trying to help her walk back to the medicine cat's den. _There goes the border patrol,_ Ravenwing thought.

"Good, it's you," Ashenheart panted.

"A loner attacked," Rainwhisker said matter-of-factly. "She says she pulled a muscle in her left front leg."

"What did the loner look like? Long fur, snowy pelt, blue eyes?"

"A large dark brown tom." _Well, there goes wishing it would happen soon. The suspense is killing me!_

"Well, come on," Ravenwing told both cats. "Can you move or feel this leg at all?" Ravenwing asked Ashenheart.

"Yeah, it feels like hell, and I left a trail of blood the entire way back here." She could see it, it looked like it was done bleeding.

"Great, now that loner can find its way directly to the singluar cat in SunClan with the least warrior experience," Ravenwing complained.

"I wasn't trying to!" Ashenheart yowled defensively. At that point, all four cats had made it.

"I hope we've got the resources for this," Ravenwing said. "Let's see here...marigold, cobwebs...that could've been a lot worse," Ravenwing said, relieved that she had enough of everything. She addressed the she-cat's wounds before trying to get more information from Rainwhisker.

"It wasn't Viridian," Rainwhisker said. "Looked almost just like him, though."

"Why did he attack?" Ravenwing said.

"He thought Ashenheart was trying to take his food, when she was just killing a mouse we happened to stumble across."

"Great, so he's made the border into his personal camp," Ravenwing said. "I'll need to tell Frozentail all that." Rainwhisker nodded. Ravenwing dropped to a whisper, "Will you stay here and make sure Ashenheart doesn't mess with her leg?"

"I heard that!" Ashenheart yelled.

"Good, then you probably don't need Rainwhisker to help you with it!" Ravenwing said as she ran out to find Frozentail. Or rather, have Frozentail find her.

"What's with all the yelling from over here?" Frozentail asked.

"Oh, just Ashenheart getting a cut and the camp being too small and there's a loner that's turned the border into his camp," Ravenwing said quickly.

"Okay, slow down," Frozentail said. "Ashenheart 'got a cut?'"

"A couple more than that. Her leg is torn to shreds. She said she bled a trail from the border right to my den."

"Got it. And there's a loner living off our border?"

"Yes. He attacked Ashenheart over a mouse. Rainwhisker said he didn't recognize the cat, but it was not the rogue."

"Okay, that's...good, I guess. Well, not good that Ashenheart's down for the next couple days, but good that it wasn't Rosetail."

"Yeah…" Ravenwing said.

"I'll go send Dustclaw and Lilyfrost to check it out at dusk. Thanks for warning me."

"Are you sure? If he could handle both Rainwhisker and Ashenheart, he could probably handle both Dustclaw and Lilyfrost."

"This is just to see if he's really sticking to our border. I doubt he'd try to tempt us like that for very long," Frozentail said.

"If you say so," Ravenwing said. "I think he's there to stay until we tell him off, but you're the boss."

"I know he could be there for a while, but I'd prefer to be optimistic," Frozentail explained.

"It's hard to be optimistic when he attacked a SunClan warrior over something as small as a mouse that wasn't even outside the border," Ravenwing warned.

"I'll worry about showing strength," Frozentail said. "You worry about making sure we can make good on the threat."

"O-okay," Ravenwing stuttered. What Frozentail had said sounded like a demand rather than a suggestion, which Ravenwing didn't like. "I'll have to go make sure Ashenheart hasn't done anything mouse-brained with that bandaged-up leg, then," Ravenwing said.

"Okay. And keep a lookout for anything indicating Rosetail," Frozentail said.

"Got it," Ravenwing said as she walked away. _So much to worry about,_ she added in her thoughts.


	5. Chapter 4

4

"Well? What happened?" Ashenheart asked for the third time. She could be really annoying when bored to death in the camp.

"Nothing," Dustclaw and Lilyfrost responded at the same time. Dustclaw continued, "We just saw four cats sleeping. Couldn't identify any of them. We weren't even sure that it was the same group."

"You went to that giant tree to the north? Yeah, it was," Ashenheart said quickly.

"You met one cat. We met four. We didn't scent the cat the first time, so we don't know if it was the same cat," Lilyfrost said crossly, and a bit loudly. "Got it?"

"I'm not a mouse-brain!" Ashenheart exclaimed. "I'm just trying to help! Did any of them look like Viridian?"

"We couldn't tell very well, it was practically moon-high and we were too far away!" Lilyfrost shouted, her brown pelt bristling. Lilyfrost got angry easily, but her yowl was worse than her bite.

"One of them looked slick and short-furred, like Viridian, so maybe it was the same cat you met," Dustclaw offered.

"Maybe! I swear to StarClan, if I had gone, this mystery would be solved!" Ashenheart yowled toward where the sun would be if they were outside.

"All of you, _shut up!_ " Ravenwing yelled over all of them. They all flinched at the big cat's voice, but the point was served, so she quieted down. "Ashenheart, I know you're the most restless warrior in SunClan, but you're overwhelming Lilyfrost and Dustclaw, and most of all myself."

Ashenheart's tail drooped as she looked to the ground, ashamed. "Sorry," Ashenheart said.

"I get it, being cooped up in here ought to make you itch for something to do," Dustclaw sympathized.

"Can't I leave now?" Ashenheart asked Ravenwing. "Exciting things are going on, and I'm stuck in here, why?"

"I just wanted to make sure the cuts didn't get infected," Ravenwing explained. She would have treated the leg for possible infection the day before, but SunClan's resources were too low to waste them if they weren't necessary. "I think you're alright. You may go."

Ashenheart walked out slowly, muttering "Thank you, StarClan" as she left. All the other cats watched her leave.

"Who ruffled her fur?" Dustclaw said, even though he knew the answer. He turned to Ravenwing. "Well, I'm getting hungry. I'll be back afterward."

"See you later," Ravenwing said as Dustclaw left, Lilyfrost following silently. This left Ravenwing alone for a while. A while, meaning until Maplepaw walked in, a couple moments later.

"I thought you were back with Lilacpelt," Ravenwing mewed, surprised at the 'paw's appearance.

"Well, I just wanted to stop in and check on our _silent friend_ , but she's apparently invisible now too," Maplepaw said crossly as he walked into the back of the den. Why he hated Moonkit so much, Ravenwing couldn't even guess.

Ravenwing looked around, pretending like she didn't notice that Moonkit wasn't in the den. "Huh. Where did she go?" Ravenwing asked rhetorically. She knew Moonkit had left, but thought she was just wandering around camp.

"No idea," Maplepaw said. This aroused Ravenwing's suspicious side, but she kept it hidden. _We have enough foes outside the Clan, no need for inside trouble too._

"You sure you don't have any idea?" Ravenwing said jokingly.

"You mean, I hid or killed her? No! How could I do that? Just ask Lilacpelt!" Maplepaw was clearly scared of what Ravenwing was supposedly insinuating, which would be natural, except it wasn't serious.

"Then in that case, you won't care if I tell Frozentail, right?" Ravenwing asked, pointing her body toward the exit. "At least, voice my suspicions that Moonkit might have been taken."

"I promise, I didn't do anything to Moonkit," Maplepaw said, struggling to calm down.

"I didn't think so." Ravenwing walked outside. "I'm at least going to look around camp for her. I hope she's just wandering around." She knew she wasn't, unless she was sleeping in Cherrystar's den.

"Need any help?" Maplepaw asked.

"No, not really," Ravenwing said. She had to look quickly, yes, but if Moonkit was in the camp, there were not very many places she would be.

She started by going straight to Cherrystar's den. Nobody was inside, not even Cherrystar. Then, she checked the nursery, figuring she might like to hang out around Dawnkit and her siblings since they were similar in age. Lilacpelt was in there with two of her kits, but no Moonkit.

"What are you looking for?" Lilacpelt asked, looking up from grooming Leafkit.

"Moonkit has disappeared," Ravenwing said. "I was thinking she might be in here with Leafkit and the others."

"Well, she was here. Mousekit ran off to show her something," Lilacpelt remembered. "They went down to the giant maple tree in the south at around sun-high."

 _Oh, of course,_ Ravenwing thought. _That's, what, a fox-length from where Ashenheart was wounded and Lilyfrost and Dustclaw found the loner family?_ She ran outside, but not before saying "Thank you" to Lilacpelt for the help. Ravenwing didn't stop running until she reached the tree.

"Alright, Moonkit, Mousekit, come out, come out, wherever you are," Ravenwing said as she looked around the tree.

Suddenly, something fell from above. Ravenwing narrowly dodged it and nearly clawed its pelt off before realizing it was a fallen Mousekit. "Okay, okay, sorry!" the young kit yelled.

Ravenwing sheathed her claws, feeling a bit mouse-brained. Moonkit bounded down from the tree and walked around to Ravenwing, a look of guilt on her face.

"I'm sorry," Ravenwing said. "I just was worried about you since you hadn't shown up at camp since sun-high."

"We were just climbing trees!" Mousekit said proudly. Moonkit nodded in agreement. "We saw those big cats Lilacpelt warned us about, but they didn't see us from up high."

"Did you see where they were going?" Ravenwing asked. Moonkit pointed her body back almost in the same direction Ravenwing had come from.

"How did you remember that? That was right when we got here!" Mousekit marveled.

"Thank you," Ravenwing said. "Now come on, before the foxes come." Moonkit seemed a bit confused at the figure of speech, but both kits followed the large medicine cat back to camp. When they got there, Ravenwing called the first cat she saw over. This was Goldenfur.

"Will you make sure these two kits don't get into any more trouble?" Ravenwing asked the tom.

"Sure," Goldenfur said.

"Aw, c'mon!" Mousekit wailed. "Why can't I hang out with Graywolf?"

"Oh, so you actually like hanging out with our elder?" Goldenfur asked. "Well, just wait a couple moons and you'll be checking him for ticks." He chuckled. Mousekit's eyes widened with fear. "C'mon, I'm just kidding. Everyone likes Graywolf's stories," Goldenfur reassured the kit.

"At least someone gets it! Dawnkit says the same thing you did!" Mousekit said.

"I'll talk some sense into her," Goldenfur said. "Come on." The two soon-to-be-apprentices followed behind Goldenfur.

Ravenwing herself had other business to attend to. She walked into Cherrystar's den, where there was a sleeping Clan leader. She was twitching in her sleep.

"I don't want to know what it is that she's dreaming about," Ravenwing thought out loud. Of course, she didn't realize she vocalized the thought until Cherrystar bolted awake.

"What in the depths of the Dark Forest are you doing?" Cherrystar asked fearfully.

"Just checking on you," Ravenwing said. "You're quite tired for it not even being sundown."

"I was just napping!" Cherrystar practically screamed. She still sounded a bit tired.

"Aaaaand you had no sleep last night," Ravenwing determined. It was obvious enough that Cherrystar didn't object.

Then, Ravenwing saw a flicker at the edge of her vision. _StarClan? Now?_ She chuckled at the thought of the weird time to visit as she turned.

It was not someone Ravenwing wanted to see.

Nettlewhisker.

"You see this?" Ravenwing whispered to Cherrystar.

"Y-Yeah…" she stuttered. "She w-was saying something when you woke me up…"

The caramel-furred cat was grooming herself as if a recently deceased medicine cat was a regular sight in SunClan.

"Uh...why are you here?" Ravenwing said after a moment. Nettlewhisker looked to Ravenwing with disgust.

"I was _trying_ to ask the grown-up here about this cat you two keep complaining to us about," Nettlewhisker spat. The StarClan cat looked at both of them as if the leader and medicine cat were kits.

"R-Rosetail?" Cherrystar said, visibly shaking as if cold. _Have I ever reacted like that to our ancestors visiting?_ Ravenwing asked herself.

"Yes. You probably already figured this out, but we know absolutely nothing about the current whereabouts of Rose, except that she isn't in StarClan. Or the Dark Forest," Nettlewhisker added, glaring at Ravenwing as she said it.

"Well, neither do we," Ravenwing said. "Cherrystar's been paranoid that Rosetail's gonna come back and kill SunClan, and I've only seen her in my dreams once, and she slit my throat." Just speaking of it reminded Ravenwing of the pain as she woke up the day before.

"So this whole thing is a mystery. The only thing we know is that Rose is still alive and will attack soon, if your story's true." She almost bounded away until Ravenwing yelled to stop.

"What more could you ask that you can't ask once the sun has set?" Nettlewhisker asked as she slowly turned to face Ravenwing. She had a point, Ravenwing knew that StarClan cats only stayed around in the regular world as long as they had to.

"Never mind," Ravenwing said. Nettlewhisker walked away quickly and disappeared beyond the entrance to Cherrystar's den. Ravenwing then promptly yawned and stretched.

"You're always tired after talking to StarClan," Cherrystar chuckled.

"For a moment," Ravenwing said with a hint of annoyance at how well the older cat took the shock of a vision from StarClan. "And how good are you at taking your nightmares?"  
"Well, considering you basically went to the Dark Forest the last time you had one…" Cherrystar trailed off.

"Oh, you want me to put deathberries in your poultice next time you need healing," Ravenwing barely managed not to laugh. This was how they used to talk...before Nettlewhisker...Ravenwing didn't continue that line of thought.

"Well, I mean, I do have six lives too many," Cherrystar said playfully. "I guess that's one way of handling it."

"Probably not," Ravenwing yawned again.

"Okay, I think you need rest," Cherrystar said.

"I'm the medicine cat," Ravenwing tried to joke. It didn't sound very convincing. "But I agree. It's gotta be close to sun-down."

"Yeah," Cherrystar said. "Goodnight."

"'Night," Ravenwing yawned again as she left Cherrystar's den. It was just after sun-down, just as Ravenwing had guessed. She walked into her den…

...and found Moonkit in her bed. She was awake, but trying to fall asleep.

"C'mon, Moonkit," Ravenwing muttered. She picked up the kit, who merely sighed. Ravenwing set her down next to the bed, then laid down in it and went to sleep.


End file.
